Fox's Planet of the Apes Reboot

Vulture has learned that contrary to reports that saddened cinephile simiaphiles everywhere last week, Twentieth Century Fox has not given up on rebooting Planet of the Apes. In fact, insiders familiar with the situation insist the studio is now more determined than ever to make the film, albeit with different DNA: The Apes have been handed to none other than Peter Chernin, who last summer exited his post as top banana of News Corporation to become a producer at Fox.

The Internet rumors of the reboot's demise likely germinated when it was discovered that all-star writer Scott Frank had left the project, an origin story showing just how the apes became so smart. Frank was also supposed to direct the film for producer Scott Rudin, and because Frank had crafted the scripts for such Fox hits as Minority Report and Marley & Me, it’s easy to see how his departure might be misconstrued as the studio’s loss of interest in the project. But no: Production and agency insiders both confirm that Fox has hired writer Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to rework Frank's version, and the original writers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (The Relic, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle), were recently brought back to polish the dialogue.

Frank’s Apes script, code-named Caesar, showed how genetic experiments on apes led to their evolutionary eclipse of humans. "Caesar" refers to the genetically altered leader of the simian rebellion, so dubbed because the ape was capable of grand strategic thinking on par with Julius Caesar (whose own surname means "hairy" in Latin). The "Caesar" code name also foreshadowed the script's plot: Just as the actual Julius Caesar set Rome on the path to the Roman Empire, the experimental ape's escape sets in motion his fellow hirsute hominids' (wait for it ... ) guerrilla war and subsequent dominance.*

The studio, however, wanted to pursue a different tack than Frank, and the writer-director was unwilling to change direction, according to a production source. As Rudin was only on board because Frank had asked him to serve as producer (the two had enjoyed working together on Jodie Foster’s Little Man Tate twenty years ago), he left as well. But now that it's been handed to Chernin, the presumed-dead project is red hot again. For one thing, as part of his golden parachute from News Corporation, Chernin has several “put” pictures — essentially, a commitment from the studio to get several movies made, even if the studio brass objects. But insiders tell Vulture that Chernin may not even need to waste one of his puts: The studio wants to make the Caesar project, post haste. A director is expected to be hired imminently.

Chernin had been passionate about this franchise long before Tim Burton did his 2001 remake. Shortly after Chernin became head of Fox Filmed Entertainment in 1992, he had tried to revive Fox’s Apes franchise, paying Oliver Stone a million dollars to executive produce a Return of the Apes film; in David Hughes 2004 book, Tales from Development Hell, Chernin even called its script, by Terry Hayes (The Road Warrior, From Hell), “one of the best I ever read.” It centered on a geneticist who time-travels back to the Paleolithic Era, where he must help humans win a war against highly evolved apes and protect a young girl whose genes will give ultimately save mankind from a plague. (If this sounds Terminator-esque, get this: Arnold Schwarzenegger was considered for the role of the geneticist.)

But now that he's free of the apes' opposable-thumbed grip, whither Scott Frank? Agency insiders tell us that the Oscar-nominated screenwriter (who also wrote Out of Sight and Get Shorty) has been hired to adapt a forthcoming young-adult novel, co-written by none other than James Frey, called I Am Number Four. The book, first in a series of six, is about nine alien survivors who flee to earth after their planet is destroyed, one of whom (No. 4!) hides out in a high school from his interstellar enemies. It was optioned last summer by DreamWorks, with Michael Bay producing and Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar adapting the script, and yesterday, the studio announced that D.J. Caruso (Disturbia) had been hired to direct. With Frank committing to work on the Gough and Millar draft, that’s a veritable crop circle of a sign that DreamWorks intends to make I Am Number Four its No.1 priority for next year.

Re: Fox's Planet of the Apes Reboot

The problem with this so called "rebooting" ...if you deviate from what made the originals so good that a remake or reboot can be done why not start where they started. The idea is the movie can be so much more.

The original Planet of the Apes was great! Go with that idea. Update it for maybe the scares of this time..biological mass killer of humans...and maybe the thousands of yrs produced the Ceaser like ape. hell they could come out with a way that the toxin that killed most of the human race actually stimulated the brains of the apes in a way that gave them the push to evolve??

Re: Fox's Planet of the Apes Reboot

Yeah, I saw the trailer for this, and it looks really good. And, it will be nice to see what Harry Potter bad boy Tom Felton can do. You all know the history of child actors trying to make it in the adult world. Some win, some fail, but I always thought he was the strongest out of all the HP kids cast.

Re: Fox's Planet of the Apes Reboot

Big ups to all my friends at Weta Digital in Wellington (will be catching up with you all very soon!)

WETA with ILM both rule and are now a top notch effects company. Everything from LOTR to their triumph Avatar proves that they don't disappoint, the effects here look amazing especially Mocap on a person to make him look like a real chimp and it's Andy Serkis. Noticed that the eyes aren't dead? Avatar proved that Mocap doesn't need the so called "dead eye" effect.

Re: Fox's Planet of the Apes Reboot

UPDATE: Fox informs me that the studio will wage an Oscar campaign for Andy Serkis for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Originally Posted by MIKE FLEMING

When Rise of the Planet of the Apes‘s $453 million worldwide gross was listed as a bright spot in the quarterly earnings of beleaguered NewsCorp, you know a sequel is a big 20th Century Fox priority. So who did the studio lock in first? No, it wasn’t James Franco or Freida Pinto. The studio just closed what I’m told is a healthy seven-figure deal for Andy Serkis to reprise his role as lead ape Caesar. Serkis had only signed on for one movie, so his reps had leverage in ensuring that he come back to continue leading the ape takeover in multiple future installments of the series.

Director Rupert Wyatt’s original deal came with a sequel option, so he’s locked. So are screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who are producing with Chernin Entertainment’s Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark. The studio is still in the idea stage and the sequel hasn’t been dated for release. As for Franco and Pinto, those decisions will likely be made when the direction of the film crystallizes. The studio certainly has the leverage there; the clever construct of the first film ended with a wallop that makes everyone expendable.

In his quiet way, the chameleonic Serkis has proven to be a valuable commodity in three CG-driven franchises, and he’s being paid quite well for all of them. Serkis had no options for The Hobbit from The Lord of the Rings, and received a windfall payday to reprise his Gollum character in the two films. Serkis has wrapped his acting work on those films, but continues as Peter Jackson’s second unit director. Serkis does have an option deal for the sequel to the Steven Spielberg-directed The Adventures of Tin Tin, and will reprise as Captain Haddock in the sequel that Peter Jackson is scheduled to direct next year.

The big question is whether Fox should break ground and campaign for an Oscar for Serkis’s work in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. That notion was explored in the press when the film was released last summer. Serkis certainly lent a sense of humanity to Caesar and grounded the film. Academy voters haven’t yet paid much attention to actors behind CG performance capture creations, though. Serkis could have been nominated for his groundbreaking work in The Lord of the Rings, and was ignored. He’s repped by Lou Coulson in the UK and Principal Entertainment.

Re: Fox's Planet of the Apes Reboot

This year's IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards just wrapped and we should have a full report and recap in the next 24 hours, but one of the people presented with a special tribute at this year's awards was 20th Century Fox Chairman and CEO of Filmed Enetertainment Tom Rothman, not one most would normally associate with independent film, although Ang Lee and Jim Jarmusch, the two filmmakers who presented Rothman's tribute, reminded the audience they all worked together earlier in their respective careers.

After the presentation, ComingSoon.net had a chance to speak with Rothman, and eventually we got around to talking about Fox's two successful franchise reboots this year, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men: First Class.

Rothman confirmed to us that they plan on continuing on from both movies and they're going to try to get both Rupert Wyatt and Matthew Vaughn back to direct once they get the scripts together. "Both of them were really great scripts and so we have to be sure to get great scripts again," Rothman said. "We're working hard on the scripts for both of them, but we have every hope of moving forward with them."

Look for more from our interview with Tom Rothman in the next couple days, as well as our Gotham Awards recap.

Planet of the Apes 3

Right after 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment began screening his cut of Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Matt Reeves has signed on to direct the third installment of the franchise. This time, he will write the script with Mark Bomback, one of the writers who scripted the sequel. Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa were the scribes who resurrected the franchise with Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, the Ruper Wyatt-directed film that grossed $482 million worldwide in 2011. The directing deal is done and the writer deals are being worked out right now. It is likely that Reeves will go right into the third film, a priority for the studio.

From the original movies, we know the apes eventually take over. How do you keep it interesting despite audiences knowing the endgame?

Jaffa: The intention was to make a science-fact movie as opposed to a purely science fiction movie. What elements of the world today can we line up so that if the dominoes were to tip over just right, Colonel Taylor (Charlton Heston) would wind up on that beach in the year 3900 — or whatever it was. We do know where it ends up, so the fun we want to have is what happens between now and then.

Silver: How do we get there?

Jaffa: There are a lot of ways to skin that cat. In terms of the endgame, there's a long time between now and when everything needs to be figured out.

Silver: It's like with cable TV, we can do a slow burn. There's no need to tell the story with these big wide chunks. We can slow down and tell more intimate character pieces. Caesar and the characters around Caesar are particularly compelling, so maybe we slow down and spend some time with them before we jump a thousand years in the future. We'll see. It's a very juicy opportunity.

Have you had discussions about a third film?

Jaffa: There haven't been formal discussions with the creative group, but Amanda and I definitely have thoughts, and I'm sure (director) Matt (Reeves) has thoughts and (screenwriter) Mark Bomback, who we share a credit with on Dawn, and our producers.

"Apes Live! Sequel Required!"

“It might be three films,” Serkis said. “It could be four. It could be five. Who knows? The journey will continue. It might not necessarily be summarized or completely fulfilled in this next one. The point being, eventually we know that we’re going to end up back at ‘The Planet of the Apes,’ but whether it’s this film or not, I don’t know.”

Re: Fox's Planet of the Apes Reboot

Which leads to the next question, would he remake the 1968 film if the story got that far? Reeves’ answer is very intriguing:

To me the idea is that the 1968 films stands as trajectory in that, what is so exciting is that the world of that film is so different from where things started in RISE, and the way they are in DAWN and now will be in the next film. There is a huge distance to cover between here and there that is all about Caesar and future generations, and how this world has transformed into that world, and the struggle that they’ll have to go through and how we create the world that we know from that. I think once you’ve gone through all of those chapters, you’ve gotten all the richness of those stories, you could very well find yourself going into that story again, but I think it would be from a new perspective.

The idea would never be to remake the ’68 film. There might be some of those events from another perspective, and obviously to also see them as events that grew out of everything that we’ve been watching from this new iteration. They wouldn’t be exactly the same either. So if, and when, we ever get there, which I think is an exciting notion, it would definitely not be a remake but it would be sort of a re-telling of those events from a new perspective. And the events themselves would probably be a bit different since they will have grown out of these films.